Last year I picked up some decent deals from this sales period and to be honest I have kind of been hanging out for it again .
So I am looking forward to seeing how well GB and BG can do when it comes to discounts .
I have saved some $$ , so look forward to some window shopping and maybe even cracking open the wallet .

Well , been ho humming about the HOW for a while now ( How to RC a 35cm EPP FF glider )
I thought about a few ways , but it all came down to simplicity and the need for being apply-able .

I am using 3mm carbon tube as the axle .
4mm carbon tube as the wheel so to speak .

First you need to cut your wing into 3 sections , the winglets and the central core that will be glued to the fuse .
The first thing I did was cut the 3mm tube to 10cm length
Then make a very well aligned hole in the central core where I wanted my CG . ( About 50% )
Then push the tube in , make sure it aligns and foam safe cyno it in .
This is the same time I installed the nylon washers ( 3m)
Now cut and trim your 4mm tube so it fits perfectly or slightly longer ..
I then used nylond screws to hold the 4mm tube in place , make sure you dont use to much tension . ( cynoed in place )

With the centre section ready for wings :
Make some very straight holes in your wings about the same depth as the tubes
I made my holes a little undersized as the wings are held in place by tension ( No glue )

So far looks very good ..

For control I am using a WL toys V911 heli flight control board ..
It is going in inverted .
The battery is going into the back of the fuse from the control board as I dont need or want more weight forward of CG ..
I did a very short post on the flight board several posts ago .
It is coming together , and hopefully by the next post it will be...Continue Reading

It was a little breezy , more so than the Whip would have liked in the past , but this is now .

Wing has been Fibreglass'ed @ the centre , launch peg added and been covered with laminating film ( 10thou ) .
As a result the wing is stronger / stiffer .

Launch peg:
Seriously = Fantastic .

I have a bad back , and after about 30 minutes at the park with the whip previously doing Frisbee launches my back was screaming for mercy .
Today with the launch peg , where was the strain on my back ? , nope . Cant say there was no strain , as any physical activity puts stress on it . But there was no additional strain . Launching with the peg was just so easy , I did not try for any gorilla launches and just stuck to relatively low energy launches that still gave me more height than my best Frisbee launch .

My launch settings needed to be a little more aggressive , but that was just a matter of trial and error .

Where the whip is at :
Handles the wind better , penetrates a relatively strong breeze .
Launch peg is a must have .

At the park :
I got this one amazing launch ..
The transition was brilliant / launch to cruise .
I actually caught a small thermal . There I was watching the Whip penetrating the breeze when I realised I was gaining altitude and not loosing it
I tried to stick with the thermal but lost it after a one too many turns .
Thanks to the peg , I would have put in twice as much time at the park .
So if anyone is wondering...Continue Reading

I dont have any other props , maybe I should get me a few 8x3 or something (?)

And now we move to some 3s tests .

6x4 = 5.6A / 12000+ RPM
7x4.5 = ? Sorry , the prop mounting method does not allow for full power pulls with this prop / battery combo ( prop was pulling off the hub ) , but let me say the thrust was impressive . Unfortunately the motor was once again cooking ( Too much prop @ 3s )

The motor + prop hub weigh some 29.83g
Comes with 2mm bullet connectors soldered to motor leads .
12000RPM @ 11v with a 6x4 prop (3s) and ran cool .
I would maybe suggest a 7x3 on a 3s as a possible Max prop
On a 2s the motor would be happy on a 7x4 or maybe a 8x3 maximum . (?) 7x4 definitely .

What do you want for $5.23 ozzi bananas (?)
Shaft is 2.4mm threaded ( ???? )
I was able to get one of those prop hubs ( prop saver ) on that use an O ring to hold the prop . ( not really for High RPM or high performance )
But then who the heck has a 2.4mm prop nut ?
Anyhow , for low speed , low RPM , Low Performance applications , this motor will do .

These people should keep their eyes on the road , not the goodies on the sidewalk !

Anyhow ! FX707 Chuck test ..

I put the FX707 and it's wings in a bag as I was walking to my Chuck test range
Seriously , it flew off the building board ..
@ 222grams it was almost flying in slow motion .
My first chuck and I did not touch the Tx until it just about landed .
The glide , I just don't know how I could make it better ?
I am absolutely amazed and genuinely pleased .
Never imagined it would turn out this well ! Not off the board so to speak .
I may need to replace the servo control arms , just to give the rudder and elevator more throw .
The FX707 is so slow that the rudder and elevator are a little soft , might wait till it has been on a slope . (?)

UMX Whipit Chuck test

Almost flew exactly as expected ..
Pushed thru the breeze so easily ..
BUTT ! -- The fibreglass and peg on one tip did pull the Whip in that direction time and time again ( Left tip ) .
Otherwise the whip behaved very well ..

There will be some minor trimming needed ..
But the big thing I think is to balance the wing .. Just got to do something about the Whip going left all the time .

FX707 = Fantastic
Whip = A little more work

Whip Update :

Did some tweaks , and went back out in the afternoon .
The breeze is up .
But I was able to get the whip to glide straight ..
Next outing to the park I set up / re-tune my launch settings ..
And hopefully the whip cruises

I was on youtube and saw a very interesting video on Laminating Film ..
A gentleman was showing some one how to repair a damaged EPP Foam plane ..
And I thought , wow .

What I found local ( Australia ) was some 0.04mm laminating film . ( Sold by Renz - Australia ) For all you Ozzies ..
Now I have only done a little research and a little testing with this stuff , so maybe get on youtube and search Laminating Film .
It will apparently do open structures .
And it will bond to Foam at reasonable temperatures .
I was using just a ordinary clothing Iron at around 50% temp range .

The stuff I got is 440mm wide and some 200 meters in length ( 600 feet ) and as mentioned 0.04mm thick . ( 10 thou )
There is a bright shinny side and a dull side , the dull side has the glue .
The first thing I did when the roll arrived was to take a soft pliable piece of foam and laminate it on all sides . ( Just a 5mm or so thick bit of foam sheet )
After laminating it it was much stiffer and felt a lot stronger ( as it should )

Using the laminating film for repairs ....
This is where it gets interesting , when you damage foam it can lose its integral strength / stiffness and become very soft and pliable .
This happened to a little chucky I got , the elevators had lost all their strength and stiffness .
Using the laminating film to cover both sides , the elevators are nice and stiff , holding their shape really well .

To this effect I used a fair amount of Hot glue and the plane still flew like a spear !
Though ! .. The more weight added to the back , the further it went .

So I gave up on the hot glue and moved to LEAD .. ( Lead shot to be precise - No4 shot ? I don't know )
If you look at the pictures , I made two holes as far back as possible and then pushed lead shot into the holes ..
First two then four , and each time the plane glided better ...
Bottom line , it took 14 pieces of shot + a bit of foam safe cyno .. ( Glue the shot )
So in one of the pictures you will see the mould line where my CG currently sits just a little behind ..
I would suggest @ the mould line or just ahead if you plan to RC ( As a starting point )

Thats it for this one , I might Chuck it some , but I will not RC it , just too many funky bends ...

I did mention in the previous thread that I fixed the elevators with some laminating film ..
Me thinks olds likes the laminating film ...

I saw this jet looking hand throw air-plane and thought !
Hmmm , dont they have these small EDF units ..
That foam job looks like it would take a 30mm EDF , a 4ch Rx and some small servos with little trouble .

Well the other day my hopes and dreams were shattered when the foam job arrived .
It was seriously twisted out of shape . I don't know .
Looked like every toady between my home and China sat on it ..

Pictured is about as straight as I can get it .. Not going to try and RC this one ..
Do I try again ? Dont want to buy another bent bird ....

Anyhow , 2 more 35cm gliders arrived ..
These two glide sweet , sweet enough that I may give it a go ( RC them ) ..
Hmmm , elevator / rudder or pitcheron ... Or , one of each !

FX 707 Update :
I did mention that the sleeved control rods bit the big one ..
Ordered some 0.8mm music wire from HK ............ and it was binding as well .
Thankfully I had some 0.6mm from a previous order and when tried was as smooth as silk ..
So swapped out the control rods from 1mm to 0.6mm .. ( no choice really )
The FX 707 is fully ready for testing now ..
And it be the 3rd day of rain today .. It has hardly rained this year , and when I have two gliders ready for chuck testing - it rains .

What would I do different ..
The control rods - I used some sleeved rods and they blow chunks ..
And you find these things out after they are glued in .. So yeah , I would definitely do the control rods differently .
Other than that , the build was surprisingly easy ..
Orange Rx , going to solder a extension to it . Taranis is throwing up low signal warnings about 1 meter from the FX707 ..
So pretty much ready for some Chuck Tests .
Weight = 222 grams as is ready for chuck testing ( with battery ) .
Oh that short nose ...

UMX Whipit

Also done .. Peg is glued in .
I have done some pull testing on the peg and looks to be good .
Also got low to the ground and did a very short glide test and looks promising .

Today is too windy , but both gliders are ready for some glide tests .

Why ?
Wing did not feel that strong in the middle ...
When I removed the plastic cover , the carbon rods were lose under the cover ( hence the soft feeling around the middle of the wing )
The wing feels super tight around the middle now . ( Little flex )
The covering has stiffened up the wing , feels much tighter now .

Wing tip has been glassed , should be well and truly cured / dry by now ..
Might be time to peg it .
Hopefully wont have to Frisbee it any more in the future .. Not planning to launch it hard enough to rip the wings apart ..

Hmmmmm !!!!
Saw a video on youtube , laminating film !
Got my self a roll ( came today ) , ordered the thinnest film I could find ( 0.04mm )
Did a test on some really soft flexi foam I have ( same foam I tested the fiberglass on ) ...
Impressive stuff .. Wonder if I should cover the Whipit's wings ? ( Looks like the top of the wing is getting surface stress fractures )

Fasttech.com sent me some Fujisan Dial Calipers for test/review and I only thought it fair that I should perhaps compare them to another dial caliper that was also along the lines of budget . So what we have is the cheapest steel dial calipers off Ebay VS the cheapest steel dial calipers off Fasttech.com . In this case we are talking $22 ozzi bananas (Ebay ) VS $21 greenbacks ( Fasttech ) .

I don't know about other people , but I really dislike reaching for digital calipers and finding they don't work because the battery is flat ! Yes analog calipers are a little slower to read and a little more difficult , but the batteries don't go flat ( There are no batteries ) . So if you reach for precision measuring instruments a few times a year , analog calipers just might be the way to go . ( Unless you have other issues like maybe eyesight - in which case those digital calipers might be a God send and just be sure to have a bag full of spare batteries )

Ok , I did a whole bunch of random measurements N stuff and there really was nothing to separate them . So I pulled out a 25mm gauge from my 50mm micrometer ( its pretty much spot on for 25mm ) and used it for some more precise measurements to see if I could separate the two calipers I had . Sorry no is the sort answer . Both calipers were spot on ( don't worry about the picture , that was on me ) . Both calipers were...Continue Reading

I got one of the capacitor gliders I ordered and thought it time to post something .
Have not launched it in anger as yet as it has been windy and these are small enough to not like a strong breeze .

Assembly .
Simple as just put the elevator and wing in the correct slot in the fuse , or so you would think !
Elevator went on ok , but the wing .
The wing was a real tight fit and in the end I gave up as the force needed to locate it was approaching the point I thought I may rip the wing in half ..
So the back of the slot ( TE ) , I used a knife to cut it a little ( 1 or 2 mm ) and then used the flat of the blade to crush the foam to increase the size of the wing slot ..
Now the wing went in with a lot less than wing tearing effort ..

So in theory its as simple to assemble as slotting in the elevator and wing , but I would suggest caution and possibly adult supervision if the glider is purchased for a younger person .

Trim ..
I would strongly suggest trim flights before power is applied ..
Nice calm conditions , and you trim to your satisfaction ..
Once you are happy with your FF glide , then you can apply power ..

Power ...
This is where things get very interesting ...
1 second of applied power ---
This gives about 10 to 15 seconds of decent power , after this initial power the motor continues to run ( diminishing power ) for over a minute ..
2 seconds applied power ---
This gives up to 20 seconds of decent power , and after this the motor continues to...Continue Reading

This be the largest of the EPP foam gliders I could find on Ebay .
1.2 Meter Span
166.7 grams ( RTF )
The steel BB weigh in at 44 grams together ( 22g each )
So I guess that gives us about 44 grams of RC stuff to put in the glider .. ( ? )

The fit of the wing and elevator are excellent .
There are carbon rods in the wing - but I did feel a little bit of movement - so maybe glued in a little ? Maybe add some foam safe cyno ...
The 707 was reasonably straight , hopefully RC just fine .

Plan = 9g or 6g servos ? , will depend on how much weight is needed for CG
At the moment CG looks to be at 50% of the chord .
I dont have space at home to test 1.2 meters . + the wind is up today .
This will be a rudder elevator job ..
And I will try and move everything as far forward as possible to avoid adding weight .
This may have to be 2s to get the weight from the battery for CG .

The big foam bird is here . And it is rather nice I have to say ....Continue Reading

I ordered a bunch of stuff to play with and now it's a waiting game .
So a couple of things came today ..

1) Falcon Electric Glider .. Charge for 10 seconds , fly for one minute !
I think the falcon might be too small to RC ( looked bigger in the pictures ) . But is a capacitor FF glider ...
Not really sure I want a 60 second engine run though .

2) EPP Foam glider , 48cm wing span . This definitely will RC . Just ho-humin about what components to use and RC configuration .
I guess the easiest would be wing control ( pitcheron ) , or as some call wingeron ..
At the moment the weight is 49.5 grams and some 33.5 grams less the canopy and dual BB .
Needed some work to straighten it out , but when I RC it , I am not going to bother with carbon re enforcing .
Still waiting on more EPP gliders ...
Starting at $2 and up to $5 , these things are just crazy cheap . So I will try and RC it crazy cheap as well .